Indigenous radio station in Manitoba celebrates 50 years
An Indigenous radio station is celebrating 50 years on the air in Manitoba.
NCI-FM (Native Communications Incorporated) has been broadcasting in the province since 1971.
On Friday, NCI-FM CEO David McLeod said when modern technology like radio and television started broadcasting in northern Manitoba, it was lacking Indigenous voices.
“There was no representation of who Indigenous people were,” McLeod said. “People saw that need and recognized it.”
NCI-FM started as a grassroots initiative in September 1971 to provide Indigenous language and cultural programming to northern Manitoba.
The non-profit public broadcaster now has 57 transmitters throughout the province and NCI-FM is the largest Indigenous radio network in Canada.
“At the end of the day, it’s not about the equipment,” McLeod said. “It’s about connecting with people.”
McLeod said he credits NCI’s success with its ability to share stories and issues through Indigenous voices.
“People can reflect, they can hear themselves,” he explained. “When it comes from our community, there’s a different grasp or understanding.”
NCI-FM celebrated its 50th anniversary at its Winnipeg-based station with the unveiling of a new mural and a live performance from Cree recording artist Ernest Monias.
- With files from APTN's Michelle Karlenzig
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Western University researchers unlock potential 'cure' for ALS
New research out of London, Ont.'s Western University is shedding light on a potential cure for ALS, in which the targeting of the interaction between two proteins can halt or fully reverse the disease's progression.
What Michael Cohen said on the stand in Trump hush money case
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial took the stand Monday with testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president.
Collapsed Baltimore bridge span comes down with a boom after crews set off chain of explosives
Crews conducted a controlled demolition Monday to break down the largest remaining span of the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore.
Police release 3D images of young child found in an Ontario river two years ago
Police have released a three-dimensional image of a young child whose remains were discovered in the Grand River in Dunnville, Ont. almost two years ago.
Kamala Harris drops F-bomb during White House live-stream
U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris used a profanity on Monday while offering advice to young Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders about how to break through barriers.
Behind the barricades: How protesters spend their first days in a new encampment
Students in Montreal describe life in a newly erected encampment in Montreal as a whirlwind of preparations, from facing rain and a potential police crackdown to setting up a space for the exchange of ideas.
Security video caught admitted serial killer disposing of bodies in Winnipeg garbage bins
Security video caught admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki on multiple late-night outings, disposing of body parts in nearby garbage bins and dumpsters in the middle of the night.
Canucks' Soucy suspended 1 game, Zadorov fined $5,000 for post-game crosschecks on McDavid
A Vancouver Canucks defenceman has been suspended for a game and another was handed a hefty fine after a scrum broke out at the end of Game 3 against the Edmonton Oilers Sunday night.
'Judge Judy' Sheindlin sues for defamation over National Enquirer, InTouch Weekly stories
'Judge Judy' Sheindlin sued the parent company of the National Enquirer and InTouch Weekly on Monday for a story that she said falsely claimed that she was trying to help the Menendez brothers get a retrial after they were convicted of murdering their parents.